ICRU report 85: fundamental quantities and units for ionizing radiation

ICRU Report 85, dated April 2011, is the second with the title Fundamental Quantities and Units for Ionizing Radiation the first being ICRU Report 60 published in 1998. Both reports are, however, the continuation of a long line of reports, several with the title Radiation Quantities and Units maintaining a theme which, not surprisingly considering the rationale and aims of the Commission, goes right back to the very first ICRU Report in 1927 that was entitled Discussion on International Units and Standards for X-ray work. In view of the relatively short time between the publication of Report 60 and Report 85, one would not expect much that is new in Report 85, and in fact one can play the game of trying to spot the differences between these two reports, and the following review does a little of this. One might question why Report 85 has been produced so soon...